Damageplan headlines second free concert at Davis Park

Centre Events, Budweiser, and WXRX have announced another Rockin Summer Free Concert at Davis Park on Saturday, Sept. 18, in the downtown River District. This free, all-ages show will feature national headliner Damageplan (opening acts to be determined).

Gates for this Rockin Summer Free Concert will open at 4 p.m. with the first band taking the stage at 5 p.m. and the concert ending at 10 p.m. This Rockin Summer Free Concert is presented by Centre Events, Budweiser, WXRX, and Pepsi.

For Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul to morph from indispensable members of the legendary, hard-hitting Texas band Pantera into the indisputable twin forces behind new band Damageplan, they had to reach down inside and find a new found power. The phrase became not only the new bands mantra, but also one of the more ferocious songs on the 14-song disk. It became such a big part of the Damageplan lexicon, they blessed it as the albums title track.

Born in Texas, Vinnie and Dime grew up in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, where they came from a very musical background. Their father, Jerry Abbott, owned and engineered a recording studio not far from their home. The brothers used to hang out down at the studio on a regular basis, where they got to see their share of Texas legends. Dime and Vinnie were also influenced by such greats as Tony Iommi, Ace Frehley, Edward Van Halen, Randy Rhodes, Tommy Aldridge, John Bonham, Alex Van Halen, and Neil Peart, just to name a few. This helped progress the dynamic duo into the most influential guitarist and drummer of the 1990s, where they have continued their groundbreaking techniques and styles into the new millennium.

When we first started putting this band together, we knew we were going to have to get a kick a– vocalist, said Vinnie. Enter Pat Lachman former Halford and Diesel Machine guitarist. We tried several people, and they just werent working out. Patrick was traveling back and forth to Dallas, and during this time, he had formed a friendship with Dime. The two were hangin out, listenin to jams, and drinkin, when Dime played him the new music we had been workin on. Pat was blown away and immediately expressed interest in being part of the band, but Dimebag had the guitar already covered, so when Pat said he wanted to sing, they were surprised.

Dimebag recalls how Lachman proved his vocal prowess. We gave him a track and he went back to L.A. and just killed it he said. He Fed Exd it to me and Vinnie and we put an ear to it that night…and it crushed! So we gave him a few more tracks and he kept . . . killin em. The key was, he had that aggression, which has always been crucial to what we do, but at the same time, we love a . . . melody, and Pat can bring that, too. His style is very diverse. Vinnie and I have always been about the Power Groove, as well as good songwriting, Dimebag said.

To add the final completion to the plan, Bob Zilla was brought into the fold. As Dime informs us: We really wanted a true bass player with a monstrous sound. We had seen Bob play in various local bands, along with various styles of music. We knew he had the diversity, and he still had the same heavy influences we had grown up on, not to mention, hes one hell of a tattoo artist, too. So he was our first choice to audition. He came down to the studio one night, and after we jammed a few songs together, Vinnie says, Man, dude sounds like Godzilla comin outta that rig! Henceforth, he would be notorious, as Bob Zilla.